Those who can hear the Cry of the Planet Chapter 1
by CloudXIII Strife
Summary: All new FFVII storyline. With almost entirely all SI characters. This is the one with the prologue and first chapter. All the characters are people from a MB I go to. R/R please. I have lots of stuff to fix...so don't complain!
1. Default Chapter Title

Last One Standing: a fan fic by CloudXIII  
  
This is the fan fic that I, CloudXIII, wrote. The characters are people  
  
that are from a message board called Tha Big Phat Final Fantasy Board  
  
and they're really nice people too. The MB is where people who usually  
  
have problems with Final Fantasy come and ask their questions about the  
  
game. Usually it's FFVII but not always. Enough about the MB, on with   
  
the characters!  
  
  
Credits: Me for writing this, the group at the MB for ideas/weapons/limit  
  
breaks and for letting me kill them off and then revive them again in this  
  
fic. Flames, comments, suggestions and questions are welcome at   
  
cloud_strife_13@hot-shot.com Spam me and die. And how could I forget, the   
  
reader who is reading this.  
  
  
Characters:  
  
CloudXIII: Me, the original Cloud who had 1 clone who was named Cloud  
  
also and has Masamune Weapon as his sword. He has a tattoo of number 13  
  
in Gothic style Roman Numerals. Hence the name CloudXIII.  
  
  
Weapon: Masamune Weapon  
  
  
Limit Breaks: Level 1: Braver  
  
Cross Slash  
  
  
Level 2: Blade Beam  
  
Climhazzard  
  
Level 3: Meteorain  
  
Finishing Touch  
  
  
Level 4: Omnislash  
  
  
  
Aeris: A nice person who basically is very silly and very much like Aeris  
  
from the game FFVII. And no, she is not impaled with a long blade.  
  
  
Weapon: Aurora Rod with twin blades at the end  
  
  
Limit Breaks: Level 1:  
  
  
Level 2:  
  
  
Level 3:  
  
  
Level 4:  
  
Yuffie chan: Quite possibly the weirdest person I've ever met. 2 words,  
  
Weird Glomper.  
  
  
Weapon: Magical Knight Rayearth sword.  
  
  
Limit Breaks: Level 1:  
  
  
Level 2:  
  
  
Level 3:  
  
  
Level 4:  
  
  
Behemoth: Again, one of the stranger people I know. He's cool and he's  
  
freaky like Yuffie chan.  
  
  
Weapon: Staff with lasers on both ends.  
  
  
Limit Breaks: Level 1:  
  
  
Level 2:  
  
  
Level 3:  
  
  
Level 4:  
  
  
Rude: A nice dude who's really good with stuff. *sorry dude*  
  
  
Weapon: Nightstick that's a replica of Reno's  
  
  
Limit Breaks: Level 1:  
  
  
Level 2:  
  
  
Level 3:  
  
  
Level 4:  
  
  
Aerith Ressurected: In this fic, she's called Aerith to make it more   
  
acceptable. Nice person, sometimes does strange things.  
  
  
Weapon: Omnifan  
  
  
Limit level 1: Peacock fan - confuses oppenents while causing damage  
  
Rabid weasel attack-....just as it says......  
  
  
Limit level 2-Gosby star-)Gosby's one of my dogs) forms a defensive shield around Aerith  
  
Mulitpicity- divides into two and attacks  
  
  
Limit level 3-Major paper cut-owwwww.  
  
Insanity - Aerith bonks hapless victim on head with fan causing all kins of statis effects sometimes causes death  
  
  
Limit level 4 - Immortal Maiden - Winged Maiden comes out reaks havoc and gives Aerith temporary invincibility  
  
  
  
Kamau: Nice friendly dude who likes to write and draw.  
  
  
Weapon: Staff  
  
  
Tifa: Extremely nice and one of my best friends on the net. Cool foo' she is.  
  
Don't try to go for her. She's gotta b/f!  
  
  
Weapon: Gloves  
  
  
Limit Breaks: Level 1: Frontal Assault  
Somersault  
  
Level 2:   
  
  
Level 3:   
  
  
Level 4: Final Heaven  
  
  
Mohil: At first, his name may seem strange but hell, aren't all names kinda   
  
freaky to ever'body? Nice dude. Knows a load of info about FFVII, we had a few  
  
disagreements in the beginning and then we grew to accept each other.   
  
  
Phoenix: Freaky dude who's silly at times. He played along with my   
  
Toiletmon routine. That's partially why he's cool.  
  
  
V.: I dunno much about him.   
  
  
Viper13: Ditto.  
  
  
SI Characters:   
  
  
Akira: Psycho dude. Cool.  
  
  
Weapon: Coathangers  
  
  
Limit Break: Level 1 Explode: An explosion of his temper, slicing at the enemy with all his strength. One hit.  
  
Psycho: 4 consecutive hits, destroying the enemy.   
  
  
Level 2 Depression: A barrage of status attacks causing the enemy to fall asleep, sadness, stop, etc. Same as   
Hades.  
  
Therapy: Helps boost the stats of allies for the battle and cures them of all status attacks and   
replenishes health.  
  
  
Level 3 Silence of the Lambs: Creeps up behinds the enemy, sending a gigantic multiple hit blow to the enemy.  
  
Beyond infinite: Sends a shower of stars to attack the enemy. All elemental attack   
  
  
Level 4 Night of the Living Dead: A whirlwind of multiple attacks, rushes the enemy ranks and throws out of battle what it cannot defeat.  
  
  
Toiletmon: A Digimon who's humanoid shaped. Very cool.   
  
  
Weapon: Pipe  
  
  
Limit Break: Level 1:  
  
  
Daemon: A king, forsaken in his quest for peace, skilled in the ways of the fist and sword.  
  
  
Weapon: Fists and broad sword  
  
  
Limit Breaks: Level 1: Death List  
  
Guillotine  
  
  
Level 2: Sword of Justice  
  
Fist of Destiny  
  
  
Level 3: Peaceful Alliance  
  
Soldier of Fortune  
  
  
Level 4: Wrath of the Beat King  
  
  
*DISCLAIMER* I don't own FFVII. Though I have a copy of the game. If  
  
you plaigerise my story, you are punishable by law. Because I am gaining  
  
no profit from this, I should be notified of someone wants to post my  
  
fic on their website/fanzine/FTP. Don't go and sue me. I have no money.  
  
  
Authors note: The story's set in the FFVII world. All the people named  
  
after the character, are the characters and they take on their personality's.  
  
Those who aren't, weeell...they have personalities. I'm pretty sure of that.  
  
So the story's set in a post Meteor timeline. All things that happened in the game,  
  
happened in this also. And yes, I'll try to refrain from using shameless plugs.  
  
I said try! And yes, this is a serious fic. I hate you Reader. Your fics totally  
  
sucked. Yaoi and Yuri are ok. People who are against them are closed minded   
  
and stupid and I hope you all realise that before it's too late. Some Yaoi fics  
  
suck. But you suck the most ok. And people who want to MST this story, please   
  
do it correctly, because from previous experience, I've seen authors "MST" which  
  
in their case was to flame the fic. Yes authors who MST fics, are flamers who don't  
  
like the fic, but they use riffs and insults via different characters. MSTing is   
  
made from the show Mystery Science Theatre 3000 which have 4 people sit and watch   
  
crappy films because they're forced to watch them. We just replace bad films with   
  
bad fics. Very simple. So if you want to MST my fic, do it right. I still hate you   
  
Reader. I hope you die a very painful death. That's not a threat. That's just wishful  
  
thinking. BTW, your picture totally sucked. I'll be switching from Narrator to 1st person  
  
quite often so don't get confused.   
  
  
Prologue: Begin Play.  
  
  
The wind blew across the desert, picking up sand and whipping it into the faces of the travellers.   
  
The weathered skin of the person in the lead of the party, twitched as he felt the stinging pain of the sand.  
  
He squinted through the cover of the glasses to see what was beyond the next sand dune. After setting up camp,  
  
he and a few other fellow travellers ventured beyond the sand dune, they discovered a large Egyptian tomb.   
  
This Egyptian tomb wasn't on their map, and their map was the latest one created by the most accurate means possible.  
  
The sheer size of the tomb was unlike they had ever seen before. They slowly walked in the entrance of the tomb,  
  
which had a large torch hanging every 3 or so feet away from each other on the wall. The travellers just gaped at   
  
the riches lying about, stopping occasionally to marvel at the wonders of the Egyptian tomb.   
  
  
  
When they reached the center of the tomb, there was a large coffin in the middle of the room, decorated with  
  
gold and rubies. In the middle of the coffin was an blue crystal that was glowed every so often, lighting the room  
  
with a blue light occasionally. The leader slowly walked towards the center of the room. The light emanated from   
  
the blue crystal slowly pulsated and when the leader touched the crystal, the crystal shimmered and the room's ceiling  
  
exploded. The chunks of rocks falling from the ceiling crushed the travel weary scientists like bugs and there  
  
was a perfect circle in the middle of the ceiling. The blue crystal formed a blue barrier around it and shot through   
  
the ceiling a blast of energy.   
  
  
The blast of energy, travelling past universes and galaxies with the blink of an eye. The final destination of this energy?  
  
Earth.  
  
  
  
Chapter 1: Evil Arising  
  
  
TODAY on the planet Earth, in the Milky Way.  
  
  
A young boy sits at his computer, typing away at his computer, writing his new Final Fantasy VII fan fiction. He just   
completed his story and finished saving it. He stretched his arms and leaned back against his chair, yawning and rubbing the   
sleep out of his eyes. He waited for the browser to finish signing into his email account and he attached his newly completed   
masterpiece to the email and pressed send. As soon as he sent the email, he began to read over his story. Suddenly, his   
computer screen began to glow a bright white, the boy held his arms up to shield his eyes from the blinding light. The boy   
was sucked into the computer and through a portal through time and space.   
  
  
When the boy woke up to find that he was in a tower along with several other strangely familiar people. A tall and graceful   
man stepped forward to speak to them. "The day of judgment has come." The man boomed, causing the boy to wince in pain. He   
looked around the room and to his amazement, he discovered that everybody who he sent the email to, had also been teleported   
to where he was. The man who was speaking to them, strode towards the edge of the tower and shouted towards the awaiting   
crowd below. "The day of judgment has arrived! The prophecy is to be fulfilled! And all evil shall be erased from this very   
universe!" The man shouted, speaking with such power that it made the boy shudder. "The 4 Holy Warriors shall unite with the   
4 Heavenly Warriors to team up with the Chosen One to destroy the evil!" The boy sidled up to the man and asked timidly who   
is this Chosen One. "It is you! My young master, you are the one who lead the charge against the final battle of good against   
evil."   
  
  
Suddenly, a blue light collided with the tower, completely destroying everything other than the tower. A blue barrier   
magically formed around the people who were teleported there. The people in the tower were teleported once more, through time   
and space to a planet. Not just any planet. The Planet.  
  
  
The boy cursed as he rubbed his aching head, slowly rising to his feet. A voice interrupted his cursing and he whipped his   
head around, just in time find out the crick in his neck. "Who are you?" The voice asked. "I am CloudXIII Strife." He   
replied, wincing as he turned his head around gingerly. "I am Aeris Gainsborough." The girl replied, stepping out of the   
shadow of the tree she was hiding behind. The girl was holding a long staff that had a protuding blade on each end of the   
staff. CloudXIII's hand reached out towards to the staff, tracing the shape of the blades and the staff, trying to understand   
the hidden power inside the staff. "This is a good staff, use it well." CloudXIII murmured, handing the staff back to Aeris.   
They were interrupted by the sound of leaves rustling. "You will come out and face us." CloudXIII said, summoning his   
telekinestic powers to bring whoever was hidden in the bushes out into the open. A boy and a girl appeared, no older than   
CloudXIII or Aeris. "Who are you two and what is your nature of your business here?" CloudXIII asked curtly, slowly drawing   
out his weapon. "The name's Kamau." The boy said and the girl chimed in: "I'm Yuffie!" "Oh. And what are you doing here?"   
CloudXIII continued. "I dunno, I woke up and found that I was stuck in this gawd awful place!" Yuffie replied. The rest of   
them smiled at the young girl's innocence and they took out their weapons. Kamau's staff was a simple yet powerful holy staff   
and Yuffie had a long sword that had undecipherable symbols on them. "If we are not allies, we are enemies." CloudXIII said,   
completely drawing out his Masamune Weapon. The sword was forged from the remains of the most powerful beings in the   
universe.   
  
  
Next Chapter preview: The introduction of more characters! Will there be a fight between the four? Who will be the victor if   
  
there is a battle?! Stay tuned for the next chapter: Taking care of business! 


	2. Default Chapter Title

Chapter 2: Interrupted by the Hordes  
  
  
As soon as they unsheathed their weapons, a low rumbling broke the tension.  
  
"Everybody into the trees!" Kamau shouted, leaping onto a tree branch. Everybody  
  
except Yuffie made it into the trees. She was still slipping and sliding on the  
  
bark, just barely out of CloudXIII's reach. "Grab my hand!" CloudXIII shouted,  
  
his voice being drowned out by the sounds of hooves pounding the earth. With a   
  
burst of strength, CloudXIII pulled Yuffie onto the tree, away from the stampeding  
  
hordes of monsters and animals. Yuffie scampered onto the tree branch next to CloudXIII,  
  
panting from the hair raising experience.   
  
  
They watched the hordes of monsters and animals thunder below them and jumped off  
  
the branches when the stampede finally ended. Aeris noticed a small fire red egg  
  
lying amongst the debris left by the animals and monsters. She picked it up and   
  
held it in her arms, half hoping that the egg would open and find several more eggs  
  
inside. "Hey look at the egg!" Yuffie shouted, watching the egg shake and vibrate.  
  
Kamau took out an old and battered map that seemed to be the map of the world. He  
  
searched the map's old and faded words for something and then put his finger on a spot.  
  
CloudXIII looked at the spot where Kamau's finger was pointed at and read: "Cosmo Canyon"  
  
Kamau nodded and began to explain that the purpose of the egg would be deciphered by  
  
the Elders there. Yuffie and Aeris overheard their conversation and ran over to join in  
  
the conversation. "Me too! I wanna go to Cosmo Canyon! Wutai's boring!" Yuffie shrieked.  
  
"Me three!" Aeris chimed in. Kamau shot CloudXIII an exasperated look and CloudXIII just  
  
shrugged.   
  
  
The party of 4 walked around in the forest, chopping up wood for materials to build a raft  
  
to go to Cosmo Canyon. According to Kamau's map, they only had to travel some 20 kilometres  
  
across the narrowest part between the continents in order to reach the shores of the new  
  
continent. They managed to bind the pieces of wood together by freezing them with a spell  
  
and then quickly heating it up with a weak fire spell. Aeris noticed that the egg reacted  
  
differently when it felt the heat of the fire spell and seemed to be attracted towards it,   
  
but she just thought it was just an illusion and continued with the task at hand. They froze,   
  
heated and froze again together the pieces of wood to make them stick. All of them tested   
  
out the raft which generally consisted of running on and off the raft and jumping up and   
  
down on it. The raft, however battered, was still usable and they began to row slowly towards   
  
the new continent.   
  
  
Next chapter: Introduction of a new character! Will they be able to enlist the aid of a God?  
  
Stay tuned for "Those Who can hear the Cry of the Planet" Chapter 3: Meet the Wind! 


	3. Default Chapter Title

Chapter 3: Meet the Wind King  
  
The party had already drifted for several days on the ocean, on their way towards Cosmo   
Canyon.  
  
They had discovered all too soon Yuffie's unfortunate reaction to drifting about on the   
water on a flimsy craft.  
  
They constantly had to stop and take a break because or else Yuffie would vomit   
horrendously. Aeris cast  
  
a weak sleeping spell on Yuffie to prevent her from having anymore unfortunate accidents.   
Sparks began to  
  
fly between Kamau and CloudXIII because CloudXIII thought that Kamau's map was outdated and should not be   
  
trusted. His theory was that they could easily lose their lives for nothing if they found   
out that they were 300 kilometres off course, rather than safely stowing away on a ship.   
  
Kamau thought that stowing away on a ship was too risky so they had to trust the map to guide them to their destination.  
  
  
  
"I tell you! It's not going to work!" CloudXIII muttered as Kamau pored over the battered   
map, tracking  
  
their movements. "Shut up." Kamau interrupted and then went back to tracking their   
movements.   
  
Aeris was taking care of Yuffie and making medicine out some herbs she took before they left for Cosmo Canyon.   
  
Her eyes were sunken and had dark circles that showed many days of lack of sleep and food.   
  
She somehow managed to catch some small fish with her Aurora Rod, but that could only be rationed for a few days.   
  
They all knew that they had to get to shore quickly before they ran out of energy.   
  
  
  
As soon as night fell, CloudXIII sat at the front of the boat, staring off into the distance   
with a scowl on his face.   
  
Kamau glanced at him and made a small fire to light up the directions he was writing.   
  
If the map he had was still right, they should be slightly off course rather than directly straight towards Cosmo   
Canyon.   
  
His thoughts were interrupted by a shout from CloudXIII.   
  
"Steady the raft! It's a violent wind! Heading straight for us!" CloudXIII explained quickly.   
  
Aeris appeared out of her tent with Yuffie, both looking haggard and their hair was in a disarrayed  
manner.   
  
Yuffie rubbed the sleepy look out of her eyes and took out her sword.   
  
"What are you doing that for?! We're not abandoning ship yet!" Kamau shouted at her.   
Instantly, CloudXIII whipped around and told him to shut up.   
  
"If my instincts are correct, we should be meeting a God of Wind, most likely Typhoon." CloudXIII murmured, unsheathing Masamune Weapon.  
  
Both Kamau and Aeris readied themselves for battle, equipping their most powerful materia.  
  
  
  
Out of the mist, a young and rather red faced young man appeared. The violent winds produced   
from his direction rocked the raft around and the party grabbed something to steady themselves.   
  
"Hello there! Do you know where Cosmo Canyon is? I seemed to have gotten lost along the way there!" The young man exclaimed.   
  
He glanced at the rag tag party of four and seemed to be staring at the two females.   
  
Aeris scowled at him and Yuffie plastered a nasty grin on her face, staring the young man back in the eyes.   
  
"Oh dear, Father won't like the sound of this once I tell him about   
this one." The young man remarked.  
  
"I'm Typhoon, son of the God of Wind, prince and heir to throne of the Wind Kingdom."   
  
"I know who you are, you're the no good son who does nothing but woo women of other kingdoms all day, your father spoils you like a brat." CloudXIII sneered.   
  
"Well since you already know who I am, can you at least help me get to Cosmo Canyon?" Typhoon replied.  
  
  
  
The party discussed helping Typhoon get to Cosmo Canyon and they all thought that Typhoon   
would probably turn on them and blow them away once they got to shore.   
  
They decided to make him help them get to Cosmo Canyon rather than them aiding Typhoon to Cosmo Canyon.  
  
"We'll help you, as long as you guarrantee us to let us harness the power of the wind any   
time we wish." Yuffie announced.   
  
"And you can't blow us off shore once we get to shore." Aeris chimed in.   
  
"Fine, fine, as long as I get to Cosmo Canyon." Typhoon agreed.   
  
Typhoon then handed CloudXIII a yellow translucent materia, claiming that with that materia,   
they would be able to use the wind for whatever task they needed.   
  
CloudXIII analyzed the materia and then handed it to Aeris, letting her confirm that the materia was safe to use.   
  
Typhoon then transformed into a large red materia after shouting to summon him when   
they arrive at Cosmo Canyon.   
  
Now that they had enlisted the aid of a God on their side, they would be able to get to Cosmo Canyon, now with all the speed they can muster.   
  
  
  
Next Chapter Preview: What happens when they get to Cosmo Canyon? What is the mysterious   
  
fire red egg's purpose? Enlisting the aid of one more God? Stay tuned for the next chapter!   
  
Phoenix Flame! 


	4. Default Chapter Title

Chapter 4: Phoenix Flame  
  
The party had finally made it to shore near Gonganga Village. They were much further off course than they hoped, but they were still pleased that Yuffie would no longer vomit all over Aeris and that they could finally cleanse themselves of the horrible stench of vomit. "Someone...get...me...*urp*...a...towel...please..." Yuffie stuttered, stumbling and leaning over the small pond in the forest. "I'm sorry to say that none of us have a CLEAN towel, due to someone constantly THROWING UP on us." CloudXIII scowled with sarcasm dripping. "Gee...*urp*...I wonder...*urp*...who's fault that...*urp*...is?" Yuffie replied sarcasticly, throwing up inside a small wooden bowl she carved while she wasn't sick. Aeris walked into the camp, holding most of their clothes, cleansed of the reeking odour of vomit. "Yay!" Yuffie shouted, jumping up but then plopped back down because she had another attack of vomit. This spurt of vomit was unfortunately on top of all of the clothes that Aeris had just washed. "YUFFIE!!!"  
  
After washing their clothes for the second time in the same day and now taking the precaution of keeping Yuffie away from their clothes, the party finally started again in their journey towards Cosmo Canyon. "CloudXIII?" Aeris asked. "What?" CloudXIII, putting on his usual scowl and defiant look on his face. "Have you ever been to Cosmo Canyon?" Aeris questioned. "Yeah..." CloudXIII replied, trailing off and then staring off in the distance towards a town northwards. "What's it like-" Yuffie interrupted, getting interrupted by Kamau. "What'd you do that for?!" Yuffie asked curiously. Kamau didn't reply, he recognized CloudXIII's gaze as one he was all too familiar with. "Don't talk to him...he's not in a good mood." Kamau said curtly. "Not in a good mood, he's never in a good mood! I'm Mr. CloudXIII Strife and I'm a scowling idiot!" Yuffie mimicked. "Say that one more time and you get a taste of Planet in your mouth." CloudXIII threatened, whipping around and drawing out his sword in the same flowing movement. Yuffie just glared at CloudXIII at him and didn't say anything. Aeris sighed and started walking up the hill towards Cosmo Canyon.  
  
"Yay!!! We finally made it!" Yuffie shouted happily, dancing around. Kamau walked into the magnificent canyon, gazing with awe at the large sculptures and drawings made on the walls of the canyon. He walked over to a wall and ran his fingers along the smooth lines, admiring the sheer detail of the drawings. Aeris went over to the Inn and dragged the bags of items behind her, occasionally wiping the sweat off her forehead with her hankerchief. CloudXIII scowled at them and walked off in the Elder's Cave's direction. Yuffie ran off in the Materia shop's direction with a sly grin on her face. Kamau turned around to see that Aeris was still slowly tottering up the stairs, hanging precariously with one arm on the railing and sliding the bags to her other arm. He ran up the stairs to help her with the bagss and took half of the bags away. Aeris stared at Kamau's back as he walked up the stairs, ahead of her. Aeris shook her head and started walking again.   
  
"You've come to see me again?" The small elderly man exclaimed in surprise. "Yes Elder Bugenhagen." CloudXIII replied. "Take a seat! When was the last time I saw you?" The Elder asked. CloudXIII sat down on a small wooden stool and thought for a moment. "It's been four years since I saw you last." CloudXIII replied finally. "Oh my! How you've grown since I've last seen you!" Elder Bugenhagen exclaimed. "So?" CloudXIII thought. "What does it matter to you?" "So what business has brought you to Cosmo Canyon?" Bugenhagen asked. "A firey red egg that vibrates whenever the element of fire goes near it." CloudXIII replied, taking out the egg from a bag. He held it up to a candle and the egg began to shake violently. Elder Bugenhagen touched and probed the egg until he finally spoke. "Get your friends CloudXIII and prepare for a fierce battle, it's a phoenix." CloudXIII eye's bulged. "SAY WHAT?!" CloudXIII shouted. "You mean I've been carrying a living weapon the whole time?!" Bugenhagen nodded sadly.   
  
CloudXIII ran to the Inn and called Kamau and Aeris out of their respective rooms. "Me? Carrying this living weapon in my bag the entire time? How can this be?" CloudXIII thought with disbelief. "What's the problem, CloudXIII?" Aeris asked, gasping for air. "We've got a problem on our hands." CloudXIII replied. "It's probably too late to do anything but we must save the inhabitants of the Canyon." He thought. "Where's Yuffie?" Kamau exclaimed, looking around them. "Damn! She's at the Materia shop!" CloudXIII cursed aloud. "I'll go get her, you guys stay here and only use ice spells if you see a flaming bird come towards the Canyon!" "Don't tell me...it was a phoenix in the egg we found..." Kamau trailed off. CloudXIII nodded and ran off. "Do you know how to use a grenade Aeris?" Kamau asked, turning around to face Aeris. "I used it once...it was horrible though, the bomb exploded and the monster's blood went all over my dress. It was my favourite one too!" Aeris replied. "Why?"   
"I'm going to setup a grenade launcher, that's why." Kamau replied. "Make sure you have lots of shards of ice to make ice crystals, we're going phoenix hunting with ice magic and grenades."   
  
"Yuffie! Get your ass out here!" CloudXIII shouted through the Materia Shop's door. Yuffie was inside, gazing at the materia selection. "Hmmm, no Ultima's, no Full Life, No Alexander's, nothing good here. I'm afraid that I'll have to take my business somewhere else." Yuffie said aloud. "No no no! I'm sure there's some more in the back room! Please stay here and wait!" The shopkeeper exclaimed. He waddled into the backroom and started rummaging around for the materia. "Heheheh, rule number 1, never leave your materia lying around with Yuffie." Yuffie muttered with glee, piling the materia into a bag. "Rule number 2, never let someone watch Yuffie steal materia." CloudXIII interrupted. Yuffie gasped and desperately tried to explain. "I..you...he...materia...no..steal...mistake..." She stuttered. "Shut up. We have more important business to attend to." CloudXIII interrupted. CloudXIII put a large wad of gil on the counter and motioned for Yuffie to follow him.   
  
"Where we going?" Yuffie asked. "To fight a phoenix." CloudXIII replied, increasing his pace. "*Puff* A *puff* Phoenix?!" Yuffie exclaimed between gulping greedily for air. "Yes, a phoenix." CloudXIII replied. "Now shut up and prepare yourself for battle." "Alright, you're the boss!" Yuffie said, equipping her best magic to her sword. They ran into the Elder's Cave, in search of Kamau and Aeris.  
  
"So do you know where this phoenix is?" Aeris asked. "No, that's why we're looking for it." Kamau replied, poking his head around a corner. "How do you know we're not going to get killed by it?" Aeris continued. "I don't, that's why we gotta kill it first." Kamau answered, beginning to sound frustrated. Their conversation was interrupted by a loud shriek. "It's here!" Kamau exclaimed, drawing out his staff. "Get the grenade launcher ready!" Several loud explosions resounded against the walls of the cavern. "It's still coming!" Aeris yelled, casting ice spells everywhere. "Just keep shooting!!!" Kamau shouted back, almost drowned out by the sound of explosions. "There you are!" CloudXIII shouted towards them, Yuffie lagging behind slightly. "We have to save the Canyon!" CloudXIII shouted, unsheathing his sword. With that, he cast a powerful ice spell on his sword and ran up to the phoenix. " This is for the Canyon!!!" CloudXIII shouted, bringing the sword above his head preparing to plunge it into the bird. "NO!!!" They screamed in unison. It seemed for an eternity that the great phoenix swung its sharp talons around to claw CloudXIII away and CloudXIII plunging the ice sword deep into the chest of the phoenix. There was a great flash of light and their thoughts were drowed out by the shrieks of pain from the phoenix. Out of the corner of Aeris's eye, she saw CloudXIII get blasted against the side of the wall and with a sickening thud, he landed on the ground. With that, they all fell unconscious, completely oblivious to the inhabitants of the Canyon creeping in to see what had caused the horrific war cries and explosions. "For the love of the Ancients! We need some help here!" One person shouted. "No! We must bring them to a healer!" Another shouted back. "Just get them out of the cave first!" The first one yelled, putting Kamau on his back and running out. The other people followed his example.  
  
"Hello?" A voice asked timidly. "Ugh..." I replied. "Back then you could only get by with scraped knees." The voice said again. "Back then?" I asked. "What about right now?" The voice murmured. "Right now?" I asked, beseeching the voice for an answer. "Hello! Wake up!" The voice trailed off. I pried my eyes open and I blinked at the bright light in my eyes. "You've woken up already?" Elder Bugenhagen asked cautiously. "Yeah...I guess..." I replied. "I see you've defeated the phoenix, that was one tough old bird I tell you." Bugenhagen continued. "Sure..." I replied. "You nearly sacrificed yourself to save the Canyon." Bugenhagen finished. "And?" I asked. "The phoenix seemed to be controlled by someone and you released it from captivity." Bugenhagen answered. "It wants to talk to you." "What about the other's?" I asked. "You're the last one to wake up, I spent a fortune on potions and you used them all in one day!" Bugenhagen griped. "Ok...I'll pay you back for them." I replied. I handed over a large stack of gil. "They're waiting for you downstairs." Bugenhagen finished.  
  
CloudXIII walked downstairs, thinking about the voice that spoke to him when he was being revived. "Hey!" A familiar voice broke his train of thought. "You're all right again!" Yuffie shouted, doing a dance. "No thanks to you." CloudXIII muttered. "What'd you say? Anyways, that phoenix thing wants to talk to us!" Yuffie continued. Aeris gave CloudXIII a patronizing smile and then walked off. Kamau just stared at him and then turned off in the other direction. "Come on Cloudy! Let's go!" Yuffie shouted, putting her arm around CloudXIII's arm. "Get off." CloudXIII said, dropping Yuffie onto the ground. "Hey!" Yuffie shouted, still on the ground. "Come back here!" "Whatever." CloudXIII thought, walking off towards the cave.   
  
When CloudXIII arrived in the cave, he saw the phoenix talking with Typhoon. "So did'ja see that hot chick from the Ice Kingdom?" Typhoon asked. "Shut up." The phoenix muttered. "And did'ja see the hot one from the Water Kingdom? *whistles*" Typhoon continued, paying no heed to the phoenix. "Oh, CloudXIII, nice to see you. I hoped you didn't get hurt too badly." The phoenix asked, turning to CloudXIII, away from Typhoon. "Hey!" Typhoon shouted indignantly. "My name's Phoenix." The phoenix introduced. "Charmed." "So why were you kept in captivity inside that egg, Phoenix?" Kamau asked. "Ah...it's a long story for another day...but I was controlled by the Sephiroth." Phoenix answered. "What was Sephiroth doing with a hot slick dude like you?" Typhoon broke in. "Shut up, I was captured by him and controlled by him to do his bidding and occasionally dry his hair for him." Phoenix continued. "I didn't get very good wages, I'm telling you." "Anyways, what I called you here for was to ask if I could join your party because I need to go to the Icelands and I need to have someone escort me there." Phoenix asked. "Sure, but it'll cost you." CloudXIII replied. "Extra if you're royalty." "Money is no problem. I just need someone who can protect me from Sephiroth." Phoenix replied. "But it's going to be kind of hard if you go as a flaming bird..." Aeris trailed off. "That's fine, I can morph into a human." Phoenix replied. With that, before their eyes, he turned from a talking flaming bird to a tall man with flaming red hair and hawkish nose. "Wow! I wish I could do something like that!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Only gods and goddesses can do that!" Typhoon and Phoenix boasted proudly. "If all gods and goddesses can do it, why doesn't Typhoon turn into a human like you?" Kamau asked. "Umm..." Typhoon noticeably got more nervous and little droplets of rain started dripping off his forehead. "Just do it Typhoon before I make you morph." Phoenix said curtly. "Fine fine.." Typhoon muttered with an air of resignation, morphed from a red faced floating man to a red faced man on the ground. "Happy? Now I have to walk!" Typhoon complained. "Shut up." Yuffie retorted. "OK, let's head off to the Icelands then."  
  
Next Chapter Preview: Who is this mysterious voice? What will happen along the way to the Icelands? Enlisting the aid of a goddess? Stay tuned!  
  
Chapter 5: The Icelands  



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